Iraq in 2009

(2009 est.): 30,747,000 (including about 2,000,000 Iraqi refugees, of which about 1,200,000 are in Syria and about 450,000 are in Jordan)

Capital:

Baghdad

Head of state:

President Jalal Talabani

Head of government:

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki

IraqHadi Mizban/APIraq’s provincial elections of Jan. 31, 2009, produced some unexpected results with significant implications. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition list emerged as the big election winner. Maliki, who campaigned on behalf of a stronger central government, made substantial gains against Shiʿite and Kurdish blocs, mainly the Shiʿite Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI). Arab Sunnis participated broadly for the first time since the national elections of 2005. The results revealed a turn by Iraqis away from sectarianism and indicated approval of Maliki’s tilt toward the political centre. The provincial elections, however, did not include the three Kurdish provinces in the north or the disputed city and province of Kirkuk. All parties were quick to absorb the theme of the election results—a popular desire for reconciliation—and to reflect this message in their campaign programs in preparation for the national parliamentary elections of 2010.

After repeated delays, on November 8 the Iraqi Council of Representatives adopted the long-awaited new election law. The law had been held up largely by the explosive dispute over the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, where Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen each claimed a majority. The parliament resolved the contention, temporarily, by agreeing to use voter rolls from 2009 and not 2005; although national elections had been last held in 2005, many displaced Kurds had not yet moved back into the region by that year. The new election law provided for an open list, in which voters could choose candidates by name, rather than a closed (party) list, in which voters would not know the names of individual candidates. The number of deputies was increased from 275 to 325 to accommodate population growth.

Parts of this election law were vetoed, however, by Vice Pres. Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni. He sought more seats in the parliament for some 2.6 million Iraqi refugees, most of whom were Sunni. A new amendment, backed by Shiʿite and Kurdish members, shuffled the new distribution of seats by reverting to the 2005 voter rolls and adding seats for a 2.8% annual increase in the population. This result gave more seats to Kurds than to Sunnis. Finally, after more negotiations, on December 6 lawmakers, pressured by the U.S. and the UN, reached a compromise on seat distribution, which gave a slight increase to the Sunni provinces. The date for the 2010 elections was rescheduled from January 16 to March 7.

Although Iraq still suffered from a lack of security, the year saw an improvement in that situation compared with previous years. The reduction in violence helped the U.S. to withdraw its troops from Iraqi urban areas by June 30 and to regroup in less-visible camps in the countryside. A Status of Forces Agreement concluded in 2008 between Iraq and the U.S. specified that the Iraqi army and police would assume the responsibility for manning checkpoints and patrolling city streets in Baghdad and elsewhere. Some joint U.S.-Iraqi military operations continued against al-Qaeda and other insurgents, especially in and around Baghdad and the northern province of Nineveh.

Iraq continued to face many problems: high unemployment (18–20%), low standards of living, and a lack of potable water and electricity. Corruption remained very high, as did common crime—robbery, murder, and kidnapping for ransom. All those social ills created a deep sense of discontent and unease among Iraqis and prevented many Iraqi emigrants from returning from neighbouring Syria and Jordan.

On August 26 ʿAbd al-ʿAziz al-Hakim died of lung cancer. Hakim had been the most powerful Shiʿite political figure in Iraq and the leader of the ISCI, the main Shiʿite political party. His death created a political vacuum and some turmoil in the party, which prompted the election, on September 1, by the party leadership of his son, ʿAmmar al-Hakim, to replace him as head of the ISCI.

In the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, the Kurds continued to build their own institutions. On July 25 parliamentary and presidential elections were held in the three provinces constituting the Kurdistan Regional Government—Al-Sulaymaniyyah, Arbil, and Dahuk. Twenty-four lists competed for 111 parliamentary seats, and five candidates stood for the presidency. The Kurdistan list, comprising the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), came in first, winning 57.3% of the vote. A new party, Change, which had split from the PUK, came in second with 23.8%, and a reform list was third, with 12.8%. In the presidential elections Masʿud Barzani, head of the KDP, won with 69.6% of the vote. A coalition government, dominated by the KDP and the PUK and headed by Barham Salih (PUK), was formed.

Despite repeated delays by the parliament in approving a new oil law, the Iraqi government signed an important agreement on November 3 with a consortium of BP and the China National Petroleum Corp. to develop the giant oil field of Al-Rumaylah in southern Iraq, a step forward for the Iraqi oil industry. BP had been expelled from Iraq in 1972 when the former Baʿth regime nationalized the oil industry.

Water shortages continued to be a major problem in Iraq. The government worked with neighbouring countries Syria, Turkey, and Iran to increase the amount of water they allowed to flow into Iraqi rivers. Water shortages and water pollution were particularly felt in Basra and elsewhere in southern Iraq.

On October 13 the Iraqi parliament approved an Iraqi-British security pact, despite the protest of some lawmakers. The agreement allowed the British to help develop Iraqi naval forces.

Relations with Syria deteriorated when Iraq accused the Syrian government of tolerating al-Qaeda militants and former Baʿthists living in Syria whom Iraqi officials blamed for major explosions in Baghdad. These explosions, on August 19 and October 25, killed hundreds of Iraqis and severely damaged several government buildings. Syria denied any involvement in the bombings, but Iraq insisted on a UN investigation and rejected any mediation by Arab or other countries.

Iraq’s relations with Kuwait remained tense. Iraq had been hoping for the cancellation of some $25 billion in UN-required reparations for Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Those requests had been systematically rejected by Kuwait, which insisted on full payment. By fall 2009 Kuwait had become more inclined to accept a UN-sponsored solution suggesting that Kuwait invest those reparations in diverse development projects in Iraq. Iraq had also asked other Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, to cancel its outstanding debts. Settling the Kuwaiti reparations issue was essential to removing Iraq from obligations imposed under Chapter VII of the UN Charter after the country’s failed invasion of Kuwait, which in turn was vital to Iraq’s ability to trade freely with the rest of the world.

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